Never Alone
by TrthIsOutThere
Summary: Mulder's gone, Scully thinks she can do everything on her own. Maybe she's wrong. Rated K , I guess. I'd say this is undoubtedly a Scully and Skinner fic. Don't worry, they're just friends lol. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just a little thing I came up with a few months ago and it finally took off a few days ago. Definitely not a one-shot, but it will probably only be a few chapters. Just something fun lol. Hope you enjoy. I don't own TXF.

* * *

It had been years and years since Dana Scully had seen 3:47 AM in such an up-close and personal fashion. In her years working for the FBI and during her residency, she had undoubtedly been hard at work in the early morning hours, but she had been unaware that it was that time. The case always had to get solved and the patient was always the primary concern.

But that was a lifetime ago.

She had spent the last several hours on her feet, eyeing the kitchen clock in dismay each time the minute hand ticked closer to when her alarm would go off. Outside, the wind whipped at the windows and only managed to add to the incessant cries of her eight-week old son. She had officially diagnosed his colic by the fourth sleepless night at home and took him into his pediatrician on the sixth day for a second opinion. The doctor had asked her to estimate the amount of stress she endured during her third trimester; it was thought that this added stress was a contributing factor to colic. Scully had groaned and gave him the simple answer of, "Too much." Now as dawn crept up on her for the tenth night in a row, she was beginning to wear thin and knew that she wouldn't be able to soldier on for much longer.

The Fourth of July was now almost a week past. Scully, her mother, and William had all flown out to San Diego to be with her brothers for the holiday. He had managed to make the trip from Washington to San Diego happily, with little complaint. He had even slept through the fireworks on the flight deck of the _USS Midway_. It wasn't until later that night that the whimpering began. Not long after that, his whimpers turned into tonsil-numbing wails that barely stopped for the rest of the night.

While in San Diego, his crying hadn't been as bad. Her mother and brother's wife, Tara, willingly stepped in to help. By the third night, Bill even got up with him. They each took turns and woke up tired, but nowhere near the exhaustion Scully was now feeling a week later. Her mother's trip back was not scheduled for another few days, but Scully had been forced to come back and begin making arrangements to return to work teaching in Quantico. By the time she was scheduled to return to work, her mother would be back to care for William during the day. She thought they had planned everything out perfectly.

Scully looked at the clock on her cable box as she sank onto her couch. 4:08 AM, now. Sighing she looked down at William. His face was red and his cries were hoarse, sounding more like a bleating goat than an infant, but he was finally quieting down for the night, possibly too exhausted to continue on in the same fashion. Her eyes drooped and her head rolled to the side. She was having trouble fighting the fatigue now and soon she found herself drifting to sleep.

* * *

The next night was no different.

William was happy throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. Scully bathed him and got him ready for bed. She tried to sneak in a cat nap before William's witching hour began. By the time her eyes opened again, the sun was hanging low in the sky and the soft grunts coming from the bassinet in the corner were only an early precursor to the tempest yet to come. Her phone beeped on her night stand, signaling she had missed a phone call. Agent Reyes had called to tell her that she and Agent Doggett had received their first assignment on the X-files together. They'd be in West Virginia for a few days. Monica was always looking in on her, even more since her reassignment to the DC field office had been made official.

Scully was finding her pseudo-family worried more for her than even her mother did sometimes. Perhaps because they knew more than anything that she was willing to tell her mother. With Mulder's most recent disappearance fresh in their minds, they hoped to keep her from shutting them out. She was going to need help, but they knew they wouldn't hear her asking anytime soon.

Scully put the phone back on her table and lay motionless, drifting in and out of consciousness for a little while longer. William's grunts finally turned into whines and Scully groaned as she read the time on her clock by her bed. 9:12 PM. Right on time. She rolled out of her bed slowly and shuffled to her kitchen to begin boiling water to make tea. By the time her tea was ready, William was whining more persistently. She drank her tea slowly as she stood over the bassinet rubbing circles on William's belly, hoping that maybe tonight it may be the key to calming him.

She should have known she would have no such luck.

Two hours later, she was pacing back and forth in the hallway outside her room. As she passed by the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. The woman staring back at her was nearly unrecognizable. Every physical symptom of fatigue was clearly evident on her face. Her eyelids drooped heavily and dark bags sat under her eyes. Long gone were her fitted suits that she had worn well into her last trimester, replaced by sweatpants and old t-shirts under a thin robe. Now that she was thinking about it, she couldn't remember a day that she had gotten dressed since returning from California. Shaking her head, she continued her pacing.

She wasn't supposed to be the only one taking care of William. Rubbing the heels of her free hand into her sleep-deprived eyes, she tried to quell the irrational sense of betrayal rising up from her gut. Mulder had gotten too close to uncovering a secret that he should have left alone once he discovered the fate of his long lost sister. He had been too driven, too passionate to let it be. When the colony of supersoldiers had walked away from William without so much as a second glance, the next logical assumption was that it was Mulder's DNA they were after. The ever-elusive _they_ had caused the reconstruction of his genetic make-up and rationally Scully knew that she couldn't lay the blame on Mulder, but in her current state, rationality was hard to hold on to. She just wanted to sleep.

Perhaps she was wrong thinking that she would be alright alone. She had left California assuring her mother that if she needed anything she would be calling and Maggie promised to be on the first flight home. Maybe she was trying to prove something to herself. Admitting that she needed help would only solidify in her mind the single reminder that she wasn't meant to do this alone. Asking for help would be the irrevocable proof that Mulder wouldn't be coming back. The thought alone presented in a single, large tear that streaked down her face, splashing on William's hand. He hiccupped and his crying ceased for several long seconds. Holding her breath, she moved slowly to her room and laid the quiet infant on her bed. He closed his eyes and Scully sighed in relief. But when a knock sounded from her front door sent William into a fit again, she threw her head back and released a long, frustrated groan.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was the new neighbor next door. 11:01 PM, on the dot. Scully rolled her eyes as she looked through the peephole and pulled the door open. The woman was irritated, but remained sickeningly polite, gently reminding Scully that the nighttime noise ordinance was now in effect and that many of the other tenants had to be awake early in the morning. Scully rested her head against the door and closed her eyes, nodding in agreement with the woman, but not really listening to her. _Noise ordinance? Really? _Once she was finished talking, Scully smiled up at the woman.

"My son has colic," her voice sounded slurred even in her own ears. "The problem hasn't changed since the last time you came on Thursday night. The best suggestion I can offer is to buy ear plugs. I'll buy them for you if I have to, but until you've had any sort of true medical training and can offer me a proper solution to my dilemma, I'd greatly appreciate you keeping your comments to yourself."

The woman was frazzled, but remained cordial and polite. Scully didn't believe that the woman could have faked it if she had tried. She was too young and too genuine to really mean anything about noise violations. She probably still stayed up well past when she should and went to work hung over on Mondays. In fact, Scully guessed that she had grown up an only child, probably without cousins or any noisy family members. So while a raging party at the apartment below her may have lulled her to sleep, the noises of children were foreign and kept her awake. Frowning, Scully shut the door. William let out another wail, grating on her nerves and making her want to scream.

She needed help, but where to find it was a whole other problem on its own.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, I was just going through my computer files and realized that I need to do a lot of finishing up on pretty much all my fics. So here's hoping that I can start working on them again and get them done. And as for this one, I think I'm going to end with this chapter.

* * *

Walter Skinner had never been one to complain when his sleep was disturbed. It had brought him far, rising among the ranks of the United States Marine Corps and then later with the FBI, finally landing at assistant director. He was reliable, and it was probably why people called him first when something went wrong. No matter what time of the day. So when his phone began ringing around two in the morning, he was immediately awake, ready to take the next course of action.

"This is Skinner," he said, rubbing his eyes. He didn't move until he knew if the situation couldn't be handled from his bed.

"It's Sc...Dana." She sounded frazzled. Over the last seven years as her acting superior, it didn't take much to understand the tones of her voice. "I'm so sorry I called…it's just…William…"

Skinner's skin began to crawl anxiously. "Is everything alright?" If anything happened to that little boy after all that Scully had gone through to bring him into the world, Skinner would be leading the angry mob. He wouldn't be the only one seeing red. Hell, it might even bring Mulder out of hiding from wherever he had disappeared to this time.

Scully sighed. "I'm sorry," she apologized again, her voice quaking over the line. "William…he won't stop crying."

Skinner stifled a laugh, relieved that it was only a simple case of incessant crying. Having feared for the worst, he could feel the pounding in his chest begin to slow and his adrenaline rush begin to die off. He had never heard her so distraught.

"My mother…she's in California," she had continued. "An-an-and John and Monica are somewhere chasing shadows. I just…I'm new at this. I don't know what to do. He won't stop crying…" She paused and inhaled deeply. The quake and torment in her voice was so out of character, he had to check the caller ID again to be sure that he was talking to Dana Scully. "Sir, I'm so sorry…I made a mistake…I'll be alright."

Skinner swung his feet off the edge of the bed. He was not going to let her try to convince him that she would be fine. She had never been one to outwardly ask for assistance, but she was reaching out to him for some kind of support. Maybe she could convince herself that she would be alright, but Skinner knew better. "No, Scully," he said, laughing. "It's alright. You're lucky I like the little guy." He paused thoughtfully halfway off the bed. "I'm glad you called, Scully. You shouldn't try to do it all on your own."

There was a pause. "I know, sir. It's…personal. I've only just come to realize over the last few days. I just…I need Mulder here." Skinner could sense something was being left unsaid, but he knew that was all she was going to offer to him for now. Eventually she would offer more, bit by bit, but he wasn't going to push her. That would just make her shut down even more and that was the last thing she needed to do.

The silence hung between them for a short moment before Skinner nodded to himself. "I'm on my way."

It had taken longer to drive the twenty minutes to Scully's apartment than it had for Skinner to pull on a pair of cargo shorts, a t-shirt, and a Mariners ball cap. From Crystal City, he was barely more than a jump across the Potomac, but he took the scenic route that took him through the Mall between the Washington Monument obelisk and the Lincoln Memorial. Few things could beat the illuminated monuments of D.C.'s nightscape.

As he pulled up in front of Scully's apartment building, he hesitated before removing the key from the ignition and stared up at the only lit window in the building. When had he turned from being her stoic superior to one of her closest friends? At one point, he would have been the last person she would have called for help. He briefly wondered if Mulder knew the torment he caused her each time he disappeared, before promptly brushing the thought aside. Mulder would never do anything to purposefully hurt Scully.

Another two minutes brought him to Scully's door. He barely finished knocking before the door flew open and was greeted by a bleating infant. Her eyes were glassy and underlined with dark circles, but she looked relieved when she saw Skinner standing in the hallway. Her eyes slid over his casual appearance and her eyebrow rose in surprise, but she quickly recovered. She pulled him through the door and kicked it shut behind him, looking helplessly at William. They stood in awkward silence for a moment until Scully looked up at Skinner.

"I…I just want a nap," she finally said.

Laughter bubbled up from somewhere deep in Skinner's gut. Scully shot him a mortified look and he quickly sobered up. "I'd like to help in any way I can, Scully. Just tell me what to do."

"Just hold him. It takes him a while, but he eventually goes back to sleep." She handed William over to him.

"I can handle this, Scully," he said. "You just get some sleep."

"Sir…I can't express what a relief it is to have you here."

"Oh, I understand. I'll take care of him." He reached out and gently pried the wailing infant from her arms. It took a small amount of awkward maneuvering before William was settled in the crook of his arm. He ran a large finger down the side of William's face and the baby's crying died off to a whimper. He looked up at Scully and smiled. "Uncle Walter to the rescue," he whispered.

Scully snorted quietly and then scrubbed her face with her hands. She stood quietly watching as her boss slowly melted in front of her. His massive shoulders caved in protectively around her son as he rocked gently back and forth whispering softly to him. William responded with happy gurgles, waving his hands excitedly in front of himself. Hesitantly, she reached out and ran her thumb across his forehead. "I think he misses his father," Scully said quietly.

Skinner hesitated for a long moment. "You should get some sleep, Scully."

Her eyes swept up quickly to meet his concerned gaze with an over-protective glare, but said nothing as she nodded in agreement. She turned and shuffled back to her room slowly. Before she disappeared into her room, Skinner saw her pause in the doorway. "If you need anything, let me know."

Skinner glanced down at William before he answered. "I think we're going to be fine."

Scully's shoulders sagged as she sighed. "Thank you," she said earnestly.

Skinner nodded. "You're welcome." She smiled tightly before reluctantly stepping through the doorway again. Just before the door clicked, Skinner called her name and the door quickly swung open again. "Scully, don't ever feel like you have to do this on your own. You...you're never alone, Dana."

A smile lit her features and she nodded. "I know that now, sir."

Skinner smiled. "Goodnight, Scully."

"Goodnight...Uncle Walter." He heard her giggle softly as the door swung shut.


End file.
